Overweight Man Says Southwest Airlines Humiliated Him

340-pound man removed from flight and told about 'customer of size' policy

An overweight man is accusing Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) of humiliating him by pulling him off a flight.

Matthew Harper — who weighs 340 pounds — was removed from a flight from Chicago to Denver last weekend, the New York Daily News reports. Harper that he was first asked to leave the plane because the flight was overbooked. However, once he was off the flight, a Southwest employee asked if he was aware of the airline’s “customer of size” policy. The policy encourages overweight or oversized fliers to purchase two seats so they do not intrude upon other passengers.

“I’m 34 years old, and I’ve never been humiliated like this in my life,” Harper says of the incident. “I mean, when I got back on the plane, only thing I could do was put my head down

Harper got back on the 30-minute-delayed flight and traveled to Denver. There he was offered $100 by the airline when he complained.

In a statement, Southwest said, “We sincerely regret Mr. Harper’s unhappiness over his experience. We have personally called Mr. Harper to offer him our apologies and better understand his concerns.”